The silence behind me was eerie as nearly two thousand men and women followed. When we reached the large, grassy field at first everyone was puzzled. Where were Madeline's soldiers? Maybe they gave up, I thought. Yeah, wishful thinking. Madeline probably wanted to be fashionably late.
Gradually, a soft thumping sound inched its way across the field. It grew louder and louder. The first appearance of the demonic army grew on the horizon. The demons spilled over the hill and began to form line after line across the field. They held large clubs, machetes, swords and a few pistols. Their grotesque, slobbering appearance worked as one of their best weapons. I had seen a lot of horror movies growing up and these things could scare the crap out of anyone.
I glanced over at my people and the looks on their faces changed. It was as if fear slithered out of the ground, up their legs and settled in their chest, causing everyone's shoulders to sag and eyes to pop.
Immediately, I had to do something. That projector in my head started to play the scene from Braveheart where Mel Gibson, with blue war paint on his face, makes a riveting speech. "I don't think I'd look good with blue war paint," I muttered under my breath. Jack gave me a puzzled look. Nonetheless, the scene spurred me on. I turned Hope around and faced everyone.
At first, the words came slowly. "Everyone," I shouted. "Listen to me." Hope began walking out in front of the soldiers across the field.
"Today, we fight for everything that is good."
Several guardian angels jumped off their horses and stood tall.
"Today, we bring us back to the light."
Slumped shoulders began to rise.
"Today, you will be strong."
More people stood taller, chests pushed outward.
"Today, fear is not part of our vocabulary."
The hint of a murmur commenced.
"Today, you will fight for your families, for your friends and for all that is still good on our planet."
A roar rolled across the soldiers in front of me.
"Today, we will push the darkness back, once and for all."
Everyone erupted with shouts. Arms lifted in the air.
"Today, you are God's warriors and you…will…be…victorious!"
No longer did anyone appear defeated or scared. Fear had been stomped back down into the ground.
Just after I finished my pep talk, several large dark forms appeared in the sky, flanking each side of Madeline's forces.
"Holy Mother of God," I heard Jack mumble. "What the hell are those?"
"Crap! Dragons," Jerky said. "Okay, no problem."
"Dragons? I thought those were just myths," I turned and said to Jerky. Before she could answer, I heard her call out for help.
"We're on it," a young man said running up to Jerky. An older man was right behind him. Two other angels and their counterparts came up as well. The three angels grabbed the men by the wrist and pulled them along.
As they ran, the angels quickly transformed into large dragons. The men held on tightly as the three large dragons soared into the sky.
"Wow, that's something you don't see every day," Jack muttered.
"Guess we have some dragons as well," I said to Jack.
"Actually, dragons probably never really existed," Jerky said. "But we can't let them have any advantage now, can we? So, we improvise."
"Improvise?" I asked, feeling suddenly as if I were a jazz player who didn't know the chord changes.
Jerky shrugged her shoulders and grinned from ear to ear.
"For the light and all that is good," I yelled, and kicked Hope forward. As I sped across the field, I looked down at Jerky. She smiled at me and transformed into a large cat. Now, when I say large, I mean one that was almost the size of Hope. And as for cat, we're not talking about a fat lazy Garfield-type cat. No, we're talking something like a lion on steroids. The creature looked at me and roared. Its fangs were over a foot long.
"Wow, Jerky, you're…" The cat looked at me again and roared. I also swear she smiled and winked at me.
The demons came closer. I looked up and saw the dragons already engaged. It looked like old WWI fighter pilots. They would fly at each other, strike a blow and dash off. One of Madeline's dragons was already falling to the ground.
The two opposing front lines were almost upon each other. The demons appeared even bigger. My throat tightened and my tongue was like parchment paper. Jerky roared again as if to comfort me. I smiled at her and raised the sword I had.
Within seconds the two forces connected with an amplified whack like you would hear if two huge 18-wheelers collided.
Immediately, there were screams.
Most of the guardian angels had transformed into various ferocious animals with exaggerated proportions. Teeth, fangs, claws were in abundance. Some took to the air.
Soon I was surrounded by several demons. Jerky ripped into two of them immediately. Their throats were bitten into, spewing a shower of blood. The large cat killed with lightning speed. Something grabbed at my leg. I spun around with my sword and decapitated one of the demons. The next sight stunned me and I froze. Another demon was holding a large spiked club and was rearing back to strike Hope. I pulled the reins hard and Hope went on her back haunches. She kicked violently at the demon and one of her hoofs connected with his head. The demon went down and Jerky finished the job.
"Time for you to get out of all this mess, Hope," I said dismounting. "Go be safe. I need a ride home when this is all over." I slapped the horse's behind and Hope raced across the field to higher ground.
Jerky stayed at my side the entire time. We worked together taking down demon after demon. As I figured, demons might have been big and scary, but my men were smarter and more agile. At times, I glanced across the field. It appeared we were winning. We were pushing them back.
Suddenly, a loud horn blasted and the demons retreated. Our men cheered.
Jack yelled for our side to pull back as well. Time to get a second wind. He came running over to me and with a big smile on his face reported that our losses were light. I looked at everyone standing around me. In spite of heavy breathing, wiping of brows, bloodstained clothing and many sitting on the ground to get a much-needed rest, each man and woman sported a huge grin.
Then a sound thundered across the field. The deafening howl was directed right at me.
"Heckel!" The people had to cover their ears it was so overwhelming.
My name reverberated again across the field with such hate and loathing.
Showdown time. It must be high noon, I thought.
Now every old western movie I had ever seen flashed across the movie projector in my head. I snickered. "Looks like it's gonna be the O.K. Corral all over again," I muttered. Jerky was standing next to me as a young woman again.
"Not a good idea," she said. "We're winning and she knows it."
"I'll be fine. I whooped her ass once before. I can do it again," I said dropping my sword. "Besides, take off the head and the body will die."
"Send her back to hell," Jack said.
Everyone else backed away.
"Heckel," Madeline screamed again. This time she was hovering off the ground several feet and moving slowly forward. She was dressed in a long black leather duster.
"I heard you the first time," I shouted back. Okay, I should be feeling those bolts of lightning forming in my hands. Where are you? I thought. I need you. Gradually, the feeling began to course through my veins.
The middle of the field was clear. I noticed the ground littered with mostly dead demons. As Madeline inched closer, I could see she was noticeably pissed off. She yanked off her duster, revealing a black metal breastplate. Her long flowing hair spun wildly around her head as if it had turned to writhing snakes, reminiscent of Medusa.
"Looks like your demons are having an off day," I said waving my hand over the dead carcasses. "Perhaps a little more training would have been useful."
Madeline sneered at me and remained silent.
"Wow, you look frightful. You must be having a really bad hair day," I joked. "I just abhor it when I have hat hair. You know the kind you get when you wear a ball cap?"
Well, I had laid out enough sarcasm I guess because she rose another few feet in the air to glower down at me and without warning, hurled a large blue ball of energy at me. Immediately, I jumped to the side several feet and rolled on the ground. Without thinking, I pitched two large bolts of lightning at her. One struck her on the side of the head. When she turned around, half of her face was black and chunks of skin hung loosely.
"Oh, now I've done it. I messed up your makeup." More sarcasm. I was getting very good at it.
Additional balls of energy were tossed viciously and with each one she screamed a long list of obscenities. I held up my hand and a force field shielded me from their blows. I laughed, but inside it felt like I had been punched. Okay, that one smarted.
I returned a barrage of bolts. Another one hit her on the leg and she was propelled backward. My soldiers behind me cheered and yelled. They shouted encouragement like people at a boxing match. Madeline scowled at them. With that distraction and hesitation on her part, I threw another round of bolts. She fell to the ground.
"Finish her off now," I heard someone holler. "Take off her head."
As I walked over to her, I spotted my sword. I bent down, picked it up and just as I was about to remove her head, a large red energy orb hit me in the back, throwing me to the ground. Jerky spun around and transformed into the large cat. Another red orb hit her before she could spring. "No," I yelled. I got up and standing a few yards from me was Barker.
I balled up my fists in anger. "Looks like your lady friend there couldn't do it herself," I said tauntingly. "She's done for. Give it up. Crawl back in the hole where you came from, back to the depths of hell."
"Well, you know the saying…if you want something done right, do it-"
Before he could finish, I threw my sword at him. As he lifted his hand to wave the sword away, I pitched two massive lightning bolts directly at his chest. Both of them hit hard, sending Barker several yards away almost landing on Madeline. Slowly, he reached over and touched Madeline. Her eyelids began to flutter. Gradually, she moved each limb. As she sat up, the look on her face was distorted and menacing. Her makeup had smeared, adding to the horrific look. I almost laughed because she looked like some elderly woman who had put her makeup on while an airplane was hitting turbulence.
I looked over at Jerky. The big cat wasn't moving. Shit.
"Great. Now this is a real fair fight. Two against one," I said, wiping my hands on my pants.
Both of them catapulted energy ball after energy ball at me. I dodged them and for some odd reason I felt I was back in middle school and we were playing dodge ball.
"You know who ever invented dodge ball was a really mean-spirited person," I yelled as I rolled on the ground. One of the energy balls hit my left arm. "Crap, those things hurt."
Neither Barker nor Madeline was enjoying my witty remarks. But I kept them coming, hoping to rile them up to the point where they were distracted and let their defenses down.
Okay, time to get down to business and finish this before I poop out, I thought. Just as those words entered my mind, a volley of balls hit me with a crushing force. Now I was hurting. I looked down at my side and the skin was peeled, blistered and blackened. Just as I was examining my injury, I could hear Madeline's cackle followed by two more energy balls pitched by Barker. I quickly jumped forward, missing them. I felt my hand on my sword. Wrapping my fingers around the hilt, I threw the sword with all my might. It landed dead center in Madeline's heart. The speed of the sword was so fast I saw that it startled Barker. Before he could react, I bolted upright and threw myself on top of him. We wrestled on the ground. I reached down and grabbed his wrists so he could not summon his magic balls of fire.
"Sorry I'm late," a voice from overhead said. I glanced up and saw Jerky.
The young woman instantly transformed into the large cat and immediately ripped into Barker, biting on his head and neck. I felt the man go limp, thinking he was dead. When I looked down, he was gone.
Jerky transformed back to the young woman. She walked over to Madeline who was still sitting upright with my sword lodged deeply into her chest. She tried feebly to pull it out.
"So Madeline, what can I say? You tried. You gave it your best shot, but it's time to send you away. You lost."
With blood dribbling out of her mouth, she laughed. "Maybe for now, but evil always has a way of surviving. Mankind is drawn to it like a moth to a light. Just look at your miserable history. The scales will tip in our favor once again. We will-"
"Oh, shut up," I said, yanking the sword out of her chest and with a powerful swing of my arm, decapitated the bitch.
"Time to kill the body," Jack yelled and all my soldiers raced forward to finish the battle.
I sat down exhausted. Jerky was by my side.
"I thought you were dead," I said softly putting my arm around the young woman.
"Hard to kill an angel," she said. "We're pretty tough. We have to be, hanging around with humans all the time. You put us in some pretty awkward situations like rock climbing or hang gliding. Not the smartest things to do if you ask me."
I laughed. We sat there watching the demons trying to fight or run. It didn't take too long to finish business.
Jack came staggering back and sat down next to me. We all sat in silence for a long time.
The afternoon sun was sliding down to connect with the horizon as we rode into our camp. Sela was standing by our tent. I watched her fall to her knees, as did many of the other women.
I rode Hope into our camp, dismounted and immediately Sela wrapped her arms around my neck. The squeeze of her arms began to cut off my air supply. I reached up and took her arms, gently pulling them away so I wouldn't pass out.
"Is it over?" she asked.
"Yes. Madeline is no more and her demon army is destroyed. We are back on the right track."
She kissed me for the longest time.
"Oh my," Sela said.
I saw her reach down and hold her stomach.
"My water just broke," she said with a huge smile on her face. "Our baby is coming."
Vonnie immediately went into action. She barked commands like a general on a battlefield. Missy took Hope away. Vonnie helped Sela lay down on the ground near the fire pit.
"Heckel, grab your sleeping bag and bring it out here," Vonnie shouted. "Jack, go fill some buckets with water."
We both stood wide-eyed and dumbfounded. My feet felt like they had just sunk deep roots into the ground.
Vonnie clapped her hands several times and shouted, "Move it, now!"
Jack and I nearly collided as we rushed to complete our task. When I returned with the sleeping bag, I opened it up so Sela would be able to stretch out on top. She used part of it to cover her legs.
"Now, Heckel, go find some old shirts we can use." This time I did trip over a rock.
"Be careful," Sela shouted. "And hurry back. I need to hold onto to you."
I came back with several old cotton T-shirts. Jack had filled a large bucket of water. Vonnie instructed him to build up the fire and heat the water.
For the next twenty minutes, I held Sela's hand and helped her bring our son into the world. "He's magnificent," I said as Vonnie passed our new baby over to Sela.
"Did we ever come up with a name?" I asked Sela as I wiped the sweat from her brow.
"No, we didn't," she answered, staring at the baby wrapped in one of my old shirts.
"How about…" I started to suggest a name as my son slowly grabbed my finger.
"Heckel Junior," Sela said smiling at me.
I began to protest when everyone around us agreed heartily. My son looked at me and smiled.
"See, he likes his new name," Sela said.
"Fine. Heckel Junior it is."